BEIRUT - Syrian rebel factions have recruited teenagers as young as 15 to fight in the country's civil war, using them in roles ranging from soldiers and snipers to stretcher bearers and suicide bombers, a rights group said Monday.

Human Rights Watch said rebel groups across the ideological spectrum have employed children in the conflict, including the Western-backed Free Syrian Army, the Islamic Front, the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front as well as the al-Qaeda breakaway Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Military and police forces in Kurdish-controlled areas have also used teenagers, it said. (AP)